Monday, November 11, 2013

Every year on the snake day of January according to lunar calendar, the Giay ethnic group in Ta Van Commune, Sa Pa district, Lao Cai Province organizes the Roong Pooc (going to the field) Festival to pray for bumper harvests, peace, prosperity and clement weather.Have many exciting activites, especially Con - throwing. The firs, people plant a Con pole, over 20m high. The game activities start with the Con-throwing, the shuttlecock goes through the center of a paper-covered circle on top of the Con pole. The men’s group (symbolizing the sun) is always the winner and the women’s group (symbolizing the moon) pretends to be the loser. This means the whole village will have good harvests throughout the year.After the Con - throwing game, Giay ethnic people begin a new crop.

To celebrate 110 years of tourism in Sa Pa, the district town's People's Committee has decided to turn Cau May Street into a walking street for tourists.

Located in the town centre, the street will be closed for vehicles every Friday and Saturday. On these days, residents will be allowed to sell souvenirs, brocades, and food along the street. The street is expected to become a special cultural space that tourists from other places and within the country can enjoy.

It is also a place for craftsmen and local residents to promote traditional industries and their cuisine culture. — VNS

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Lung Khau Nhin is small market but still keeps its originals. The Flower H’mong and Black Dao people will come to this market on every Thursday and bring a lot of things to exchange and sell.Although not being so big or famous among visitors as Coc Ly, Bac Ha, hau Nhin market, beside a normal shopping place, play an important role to spiritual life of local ethnic peoples Flower H’mong, Black Zao, Zay, and especially to those who come from very small ethnic groups such as Pa Zi, Tou Zi, Tou Lao who live in small and isolated villages around this corner of the country, come for meeting, socializing…Walk from section to sections, corner to coerners, seeing and smelling of different local products such as: spices, vegetable, farming tools, handicraft…meeting smiling peoples everywhere.Lung Khau Nhin brings an interesting view into the life of Vietnam hill tribes. It is very ideal when driving toward the market in the early morning via the beautiful beautiful landscape of North west region.

Located in Sin Cheng Commune center. It is far Si Ma Cai district about 10 kilometers. Sin Cheng market opens on every Wednesdays. It offers the opportunity to discover a colourful gathering point of many local minorities (Flower Hmong, Tay or Giay).

On the way to the market along the Chinese border, you will enjoy amazing mountain scenery, charming rivers and terraced rice fields. People from the area meet at the market to exchange tobacco, clothes, fruits, horses, buffaloes and many other local products.

Sa Pa town in the northern province of Lao Cai is set to become an international standard tourist site able to receive 3-4 million visitors annually by 2030. Under a plan recently announced by Lao Cai People’s Committee, Sa Pa is expected to record an average growth rate of 7.2 percent annually, becoming an economic and cultural centre of the province.

The plan is the outcome of cooperation between the Lao Cai People’s Committee and experts of the Aquitaine region of France .

The town will work as a cultural bridge for ethnic minorities in the northern region and a key trade hub in the north-western mountainous region and the Vietnam-China border area.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

It would be a miss if you travel to Sapa without visiting Silver Waterfall and Rattan bridge. Especially, Rattan bridge is a well-known bridge made from rattan which acrosses Muong Hoa River. If you visit the bridge in foggy days, you will feel like you are covered by cloud.

Cau May is 17km from the south-east of the centre of Sa Pa Town. In order to reach Cau May, you can go along for 3km from the main road. It is very interesting to enjoy a cloud air at Cau May. This is really an interesting place to enjoy the most wonderful feelings.

All year round, the white water flow pours down to the stream. It looks like a picture with two main colors: green from the forest and white from the waterfall.

Visiting a museum is not top of most people's list of things to do when visiting Sapa, but for those interested in the history of the region and the culture of its inhabitants, the Sapa museum is worth half an hour of your time.

The museum is housed in an attractive stilt house with a static exhibit upstairs which runs uninspiringly through the history of the Sapa region before moving on to some slightly more engaging exhibits about the culture of the ethnic minorities. It's like the Ethnology Museum or Women's Museum in Hanoi, but far smaller and dustier.

On our last visit, downstairs was home to a sponsored exhibit about the crafts and customs of the Hmong and Red Dao people. It specifically focuses on their handicrafts as part of the Sapa Fair Craft project to promote these traditional crafts and help provide new economic opportunities. Entry is free but a stall is located inside so you may end up paying more than you expect; it's not a hard sell though.

More details

Sapa Museum is located halfway up the steps between Fansipan and Thac Bac, near Baguette and Chocolat.

Friday, November 1, 2013

The Sapa View Hotel is a new hotel, 3-star standard international. Situated in a strongholdlike building it is one of the most characteristic hotels in Sapa.30 rooms are overlooking the beautiful valley that surrounds the formal hill station that Sapa was. The other rooms have garden view.

Over ViewBamboo Sapa Hotel is nestled in the heart of Sapa town, Laocai province, among the Hoang Lien Mountain range where are both the center for tourists and near the love market. Sapa is 380 km to the Northwest of Hanoi and located at 1.650 m above the sea level. The minority cultures, pristine environment, special cool climate, the roof of Vietnam and Indochina ? Fansipan peak (3.143 meters above the sea level) and breathtakingly - unparalleled landscapes, which make Sapa one of the most well known destination in Vietnam, are the most interesting to see, discover & enjoy in Sapa.Bamboo Sapa Hotel is established in September 2002 and renovated in 2010Bamboo Sapa Hotel is rated 3 stars and now it is considered one of the leading hotels in Sapa, particularly its views to the greatest valley and its perfect service plans, which enable guests to have something, special, different from others.